Interloper: Chapter 10
"What am I looking at, Liddle?" the squad had gathered around the wall I had spotted. The faded shape of a Prothean sigil was barely visible about halfway up.
"This symbol, right here, is the Prothean sign for power. They used it to mark conduits in their planetwide power grids. We should be able to knock through this wall and interface directly."
"Wait, how do you know all this? And the Protheans have been gone for 50,000 years, what makes you so sure there'll still be power?" Tali asked.
"Well, the Prothean power systems were incredibly robust, and the grid connects to power storage devices all over the city. As long as the Protheans didn't leave the light on when they left, even the dregs should be enough to run a colony this size. And as to how I know, Liara briefed me on the ruins last night."
"Miss O'Connell, if we do find power in this grid, will you be able to run your colony off of it?" Shepard asked the colony's engineer.
"Well, power is power. If we are able to draw anything, it should just be a case of rigging up the right transformer. I can build one from parts aboard the Borealis." She nodded towards the downed freighter in the background.
"Alright then, Wrex, take down the wall."
"With pleasure." The krogan blasted the wall with his shotgun. Chunks of rock and dust fell in a plume. Behind the jagged fissure lay a branch of frayed cables and more Prothean writing.
"What does this say?" O'Connell asked as she ran an Omni-tool over the cables.
"No clue." I squinted at the darkened script.
"You said…" Tali began.
"I got a briefing, the language is a little too complex to just pick up in an evening. Archaeologists just found the first symbol near conduits and put two and two together."
"Whatever it says, there's a power signature here; I'll start to run wires as soon as I can."
"Good, we should be set to move out then." Shepard turned to face us. "Kaidan, what's your situation?" the voice of the biotic was masked by gunfire.
"Jenkins got the door open, but he took a shot. He should be fine though, he applied medigel and is mobile. We found a pocket of Geth and a few krogan down here guarding a transmitter of some kind. We're attempting to gain access."
"Okay, be careful down there Lieutenant. Once you've taken the transmitter, shut it down and pull back up to the Zhu's Hope outpost and await further orders.
"Yes, ma'am!"
The group assembled at the ramp into the tower. Wrex and Garrus took up the front, rifles readied. Shepard took up the center, with Tali and me flanking. At Shepard's signal, we rushed into the tower. We didn't see any Geth until we reached the first stairwell.
"Rocket!" Garrus yelled as he dodged out of the way of the projectile. We dove for cover and came up firing. Geth troopers poured out of the passage below us. Our height advantage allowed Shepard and Wrex to drop grenades amongst the enemy, blowing up several before they had the chance to respond. My rifle vented again, a rookie mistake. I drew my pistol and fired twice. Both shots missed. The Geth began to fall back towards the elevator.
"Don't let them get away!" Shepard yelled, advancing and firing. Wrex leapt up from cover and charged the retreating synthetics. Rounds broke down his shields and scoured his armour. He hit the disorganized Geth like a train, tossing them aside. In the back of the group, a larger platform stood its ground. The two titans clashed, each trading blows at close range. When the dust settled, Wrex was holding the Geth's head over his own. He tossed the broken piece down with a look of disgust.
"That was barely worth the fight." He said, "Let's find another one of those big ones."
The garage was deserted. Broken vehicles were piled up at one end. In the center, an intact looking Grizzly stood alone.
"This looks like our ride." Shepard said. "Tali, check the engine. Liddle, the controls. We pile in as soon as it checks out." I hauled myself up and through the driver's hatch. The cockpit was roomier than the Mako's, though it was separated from the crew compartment by a bulkhead. The controls were dark until there was a thump in the back of the vehicle. The panels flickered on. I checked the usual spots; the panel was laid out much like the Mako. Everything showed green.
"Commander, looks like we're good to go."
"Head out then, we've managed to patch into the Exo-Geni comm. systems. There's a group of scientists, civilians, and security personnel holed up about halfway to the headquarters building. Be aware, we're also tracking several Geth dropships."
"I can see them." I replied, bringing up the HUD. "Moving out." The Grizzly rumbled as I brought up the speed. Ahead of us the garage door opened onto the skyway. Wind whistled through the bridge and over the hull. Red blips began to show up on the radar. The gun atop the tank spat fire at the approaching machines while I focused on dodging and staying in cover. Progress was slow as we frequently had to go hull down to avoid the pulse of an armature or rocket trooper. At about the halfway point, a shadow fell across the highway.
"We've got a dropship coming in right behind us!" Garrus yelled. The siege pulses started falling faster and closer. The ruined road didn't give me much room to maneuver, but the outpost was in sight. I slammed my foot down as far as it would go. The Grizzly bucked and growled as it shot forward. On the main gun, Garrus laid down a pattern of fire. The dropship's shields flashed as the rounds impacted, but the dropship showed no signs of slowing down. The crunching of debris, the pounding of the Geth weapons on our shields, and the steady thump of Garrus' return fire all seemed to blend together as a distant noise. My focus was set entirely on the low opening of the outpost. Behind me the Grizzly's engine whined as it reached its limits. And then we were shooting through a tunnel. I slammed on the breaks before we could exit the over side. In a horrible, gut-wrenching moment, the tank began to tip sideways. The scene moved slowly in my mind as I lost control. The world came crashing back as the vehicle slammed against a guardrail. The kinetic barriers shattered, but the hull held strong.
"Everyone okay?" I asked. Nothing. I pulled my helmet off. The transmitter on the outside had been smashed in the crash. "Great." I banged on the bulkhead. Someone knocked back. Someone's alive at least. I grabbed my rifle and popped the hatch. No Geth seemed to have followed us in. The troop door opened and spilled the rest of the team out onto the stone.
"Let's… never do that again." Shepard winced and clutched her side. The dropship flew off into the distance. "Nice driving, Liddle. You and Tali look over the Grizzly, check for damage. Garrus, watch them. Wrex, come with me." The Commander made for the ramp down to the outpost. The Grizzly's on board spares and our Omni-tools made short work of the damage we had taken. By the time we were done, Shepard had returned.
"Exo-Geni has this place secured; we need to move on to their headquarters. Apparently one of the bigger Geth ships has latched itself onto the side of the tower. I'm thinking if we can destroy that ship, we can drive away the Geth."
"The Grizzly's ready." I said. "We're ready to go when you are."
"Let's go."
Our old friend the dropship returned as we left the outpost. This time it hung back and dropped another wave of Geth in our path. Garrus focused on putting shots into the dropship, leaving me to dodge around the ground forces. The sky was momentarily whited out as a well placed shot pierced the dropship's armour. The skyway seemed to ripple under the pressure of the explosion. The Geth ahead of us were flattened to the deck. We zoomed past the roadblocks and into the headquarters building. We disembarked into an empty lobby.
"Fan out, keep an eye out for the Geth." Shepard ordered. The five of us picked our way over the rubble towards the front entrance to the Exo-Geni building.
"You hear that?" Garrus asked.
"You mean the high pitched buzzing?" I asked. The barriers the Geth had cast across the door were putting out a steady hum as dust fizzled against it.
"No, that rhythmic thumping, it sounds close."
"Keep it down, people." Shepard said. I could hear the noise now too. The wall to the right of us erupted outwards to reveal a crouching Geth armature. "Scatter!" The armature slowly unfolded itself; its eye panned the room looking for targets. I threw myself to the ground and fired at the four legged tank. The lobby filled with criss-crossing fire. The armature's shields sparked as dozens of rounds skittered across them. The platform's head swiveled in my direction. Its machine guns flared. I threw myself sideways, narrowly avoiding the trail of ricochets.
"I'm attempting to overload its shields." Tali cried. The armature was wreathed in electricity. "Hit it now."
"Switch to penetrators!" Shepard ordered. I fumbled in a back pouch for the solid block of tungsten that fit my rifle. I stabbed at the switch that opened the gun. I shoved home the tungsten and snapped the rifle closed. The team pumped penetrator rounds through the armature's weakened shields. The armoured shell started to crack under the barrage. Eventually, the armature collapsed, broken.
"Team, report!"
"I'm alive." I pushed myself to my feet. The rest of the team reported in. and gathered together.
"It would appear these Geth really don't want anyone gaining access to this tower." Garrus noted. "These doors are shielded, probably emitted by the ship latched onto the side of the tower. We're not getting in that way."
"We'll have to go under it." Shepard walked over to the entrance to a tunnel full of pipes.
"Where does this go?" Garrus asked.
"It looks like it runs under the entire Exo-Geni complex. There's an opening a couple of meters in that should lead to a stairwell into the building." Tali had a map up on her Omni-tool.
"Are you sure?" Garrus asked, "Once we drop down there, there's no climbing back out."
"I'm sure." Responded Tali.
"Wrex, take point." Shepard ordered. The krogan grunted and dropped off the edge with a crunch. He shuffled about in the darkness before calling back up to us.
"It's clear, I can see the quarian's opening from here." Shepard went next, followed by Garrus and Tali. I took one last look around the lobby before dropping into the tunnel. The ground was further than it looked and I missed my footing. Tali caught me by the arm before I fell face first in the dust.
"Thanks." I dusted myself off. The group set off down the tunnel in a loose formation, moving from cover to cover. Shepard was the first into the opening. A shot rang out ahead of us, bouncing harmlessly off her shields.
"Dammit! I'm so sorry. I thought you were Geth, or one of those Varren." A young woman in a light green uniform moved out of a corner holding a pistol. Shepard lowered her own pistol and made a comforting gesture.
"It's okay, we're here to help. What are you doing here?"
"It's my own fault; I stayed to back up data. Then, all of a sudden the Geth showed up and the power went out. I've been stuck down here since then." The woman, Lizbeth Baynham if I remembered correctly, holstered her weapon.
"We can fight our way through the Geth if we need to." Shepard assured her.
"It's not the Geth that are the problem; that ship is putting up some kind of barrier. Unless you can shut it off we're stuck down here."
"Why are the Geth here in the first place?" Wrex asked. "What would they want with medical research?" Lisbeth looked down at her feet, obviously uncomfortable.
"I don't know for certain, but they're probably after the Thorian."
"Thorian? What is that exactly?" Tali asked.
"It's an indigenous lifeform; Exo-Geni was studying it."
"What more can you tell us?" Shepard asked. I lost track of the conversation at that point. I had already heard the entire situation relayed to me far too many times. Big Plant, mind control, asari clone. That last point stuck in my head. Feros meant finding the cipher, and the cipher meant another week in the medbay. I really didn't want more time lying around, especially with so many on the team dealing with actual wounds. The cipher would be the last piece of the puzzle though. A plan formed in my brain. If I received the cipher, it would point to Ilos. If I could convince Liara to corroborate my vision, we could head straight there, way ahead of Saren. We could skip Virmire, maybe even take Sovereign down before he alerted the other Reapers. One more vision, and I could save so many lives.
Fine, one more time.
Author's Notes:
With all the reviews I've been getting, I think the Saturday update is going to be a regular thing from now on. I'll keep posting on the Monday and Thursday too, so keep checking back.
Captain Kurt Hoffman: This fic will indeed span all three games.